welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... tragedy in the english channel, as 27 migrants drown trying to reach the uk. it's the worst incident of its kind, since the migrant crisis began. it's an appalling thing that they have suffered, but i also want to say that this disaster underscores how dangerous it is to cross the channel in this way. we the jury find the defendant, travis mcmichael, guilty. cheering ajury in the us finds all three defendants guilty of murdering ahmaud arbery, a black man outjogging in the state of georgia. a jury of 11 whites and one black in the deep south stood

up in the courtroom and said black lives do matter. a new coalition government in germany — led by social democrat olaf scholz — pledges to make climate change its top priority. and new zealand finally announces its plans to welcome back foreigners next year. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to the programme. french officials now say 27 people have drowned in the channel off calais in the worst incident since the waters between france and the uk became a major route for migrants. two people were rescued and are being treated in hospital — another person is missing.

the french authorities say four suspected people—smugglers have been arrested in connexion with wednesday's deaths. our correspondent lucy williamson is in calais. well, as you say, the rescue and recovery operation has been going on here into the night. but there are very few details so far about who the victims are or why their boat sank. and there are questions already being raised in the local media here about whether it was simply bad weather, high waves, or whether it might�*ve been hit by something like a container ship. no confirmed details as yet — but this town, this country is today is simply coming to terms with what the government is calling a day of national tragedy. this is a tragedy that began with hope. where are you going now? the uk. the water nothing to be afraid of yet. several boats set off from this coast at first light this morning. this one reached british shores without disaster.

but a flimsy boat, dozens of desperate people — the warning signs have always been there. and today, one of these boats never arrived. translation: as far as we know, 33 people capsized off— dunkirk, in calais. as of now, 31 people died, but were not resuscitated and there are two survivors who are currently being treated and whose lives are also unfortunately in danger. a local fisherman spotted the passengers floating motionless in the water. helicopters and boats were scrambled to the scene for a rescue operation, but many had already drowned. this disaster underscores how dangerous it is to cross the channel in this way, and it also shows how vital it is that we now step up our efforts to break the business model of the gangsters who are sending people to sea in this way.

this was the fear that hung over all the politics, all the debates. inside this hospital tonight, more than 30 people have been declared dead. two others are fighting for their lives. the crossing season this year has stretched well into the winter weather. it's a lucrative business for the people smugglers, but it's men, women and children who have paid the price. but people here in this calais migrant camp are so determined to reach the uk that no one we met tonight said they would change their plans. this man tried crossing yesterday, but gave up because the waves were too high. france's coastline has never been a simple to secure as the eurotunnel or the calais port. smugglers have made the most of that. these are for martyrs, and the poor migrants who have been coming from their country who have spent months and months to come here.

and they are dying there, so close to their dream. many more migrants arrived in the uk today — good publicity for the people—smuggling rings. but it often takes many attempts, and those who have capsized before have told me what it's like waiting in the water for help to arrive. one thought in their minds as the minutes tick by — what if it doesn't get here in time? well, four suspected people smugglers believed to have been linked to this crossing have been arrested, french officials say. but for all the arrests here, all the deterrence over the months and years, there's no shortage of customers for this industry. and i've spoken to many people this year who have had to be rescued themselves from the waters of the channel — and they keep on trying, and i think that says a great deal. let's move now to the us state of georgia, where a jury has found three white men guilty in the killing of ahmaud arbery. he was a young black man shot dead whilejogging,

in february 2020. a leaked video of his shooting became a rallying point in the black lives matter protests. the defendants in this case claimed they were acting in self—defense — while the prosecution said the men were dangerous vigilantes who cornered mr arbery. aleem maqbool has the latest from georgia. there have been times when this moment seemed a very distant prospect. we the jury find the defendant, travis mcmichael, guilty. oh, woo! the shout of relief came from the father of ahmaud arbery, who was shot dead in february of last year. two others were also found guilty of murder. they had all seen 25—year—old ahmaud running through their neighbourhood and claimed he'd fitted the description of a crime suspect. they chased him and killed him. during the trial, the man who fired the fatal shots, travis mcmichael, was the only

one of the three to take to the witness stand. ishot him. why? he...j he had my gun. he struck me. it was obvious that he was... it was obvious that he was attacking me. that if he would've got the shot gun from me, then it was a life—or—death situation _ his justification was that he killed in self—defence — but of course, that was only after he, his father, and a neighbour had chased ahmaud arbery in their pick—up trucks for five minutes. ahmaud's family waited more than ten weeks and had to rely on public pressure for the police to even make any arrests. i never thought this day would come. but god is good. yes, he is. and i just want to tell everybody, thank you, thank you, for those who marched, those who prayed, most of all, the ones who prayed. yes, lord.

thank you, god. thank you. there may still be questions about the way the police behaved after this killing. questions about the underlying issues surrounding race in this society that contributed to the killing. but for now, at least, all of those who for months have been calling forjustice for ahmaud arbery, there is just a huge sense of relief. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in brunswick, georgia. speaking outside the court, the civil rights activist reverend al sharpton praised the verdict. and let the word go forth all over the world that a jury of ii whites and one black in the deep south stood up in the courtroom and said that black lives do matter. let it be clear that almost ten years after trayvon, god used wanda and marcus's son to prove that if we kept marching and kept fighting, we would make you hear us.

we've got a lot more battles to fight, but this was an important battle today. i got the latest from aleem maqbool in georgia. i think there's little doubt in people's mind that it was utterly crucial. remember, after ahmaud arbery was shot, we know that the police arrived — we know from their own body cam footage that those police, instead of tending to ahmaud, who was still alive and dying in front of them, they comforted the men who'd fired the shots, who'd done the chasing, offering them water, saying they couldn't imagine what they'd been through. and then for weeks, the police went without making any arrests at all — until this video surfaced. actually, the video had been taken by one of the three men who put it online thinking it would show them in a good light, that they had tried to be heroic in stopping this man who had looked, they claimed, like a burglary suspect — even though we now know there was no evidence that

ahmaud arbery had done nothing illegal at all. it was only after that video went viral that there were protests around the country that finally, after 7a days, the police arrested the men who, from the very first moment, had admitted they'd killed ahmaud arbery. yeah, aleem, just listening to what his mother had to say in that report of yours, she had pushed forjustice and accountability for her son's death throughout this entire episode, hadn't she? and what a devastating experience to go through — what has been her reaction? certainly devastating and a really traumatic couple of weeks because of how many times that video was shown, so many times she had to leave the room. i spoke to her actually before the trial, and she had never seen that video, never been able to bring herself to do it. so for her to watch on the first day of the trial was devastating.

but she had been nervous about how this was going to play out, given that it took so much time for these men to be arrested — and given that she not only had to sit through the video in the trial, but also see the defence somehow portray ahmaud arbery as the one who had been doing wrong, that he chose to run, he chose to fight. and also, very sort of demeaning remarks, as well, as many people say, very distasteful remarks — for example, in the closing, arguments, one of the defence lawyers talking about ahmaud arbery�*s dirty toenails. so ahmaud arbery�*s mother had to sit there all this, all the speculation about how a jury of 11 white people and one african—american in a town incidentally that is majority black, how they would interpret these facts. so a lot of nervousness on her part.

but she, as we saw today, had a huge sense of relief — notjubilation, the family were careful to say this was not a jubilant moment, of course, but a real moment of reflection of how their son had changed things here. aleem maqbool there. in germany, three political parties have struck a deal to form the next government — putting the environment centre stage. the social democrats, greens, and free democrats have unveiled their coalition agreement, which marks the end of the chancellor angela merkel era. the bbc�*s damien mcguinness has the latest from berlin. the end of an era in germany. after 16 years of conservative—led government under angela merkel, germany's new leaders are younger and more radical — and they want to modernise the country. it's an unusual alliance — a left—wing social democrat chancellor, olaf scholz, in government with the greens and the business—friendly liberals.

in germany, it's called a "traffic light coalition" — after the colours of each party. mr scholz drew parallels between the incoming coalition and germany's first—ever real traffic lights in berlin in 192a. translation: my aspiration j as chancellor is to make sure that this traffic light coalition can play a similarly ground—breaking role in germany. the climate change measures are ambitious — by 2030, coal will be phased out and 80% of germany's electricity will come from renewable sources. tackling social inequality is also a priority. health care workers will get a bonus, and the minimum wage will be increased. but with germany seeing record covid infection and death rates, for many voters, the biggest challenge right now is how the incoming government

will fight the pandemic. translation: the first thing should be to sortl out the pandemic. it cannot stay like this. that's the top priority for me. translation: i think the most important thing at the moment| is the covid crisis. there's nothing else, i as far as i'm concerned. and how will we proceed with vaccinations? - what are the new regulations? the leaders of the new coalition appear to have energy, ambition, and confidence — qualities they will need given they are taking over in a time of crisis. damien mcguinness, bbc news, berlin. if you want to get in touch with me, i'm on twitter — @bbckarishma. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: ten years after her death, lyrics, notebooks, and stage outfits from the the much—missed british singer amy winehouse go on display in london.

president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world — the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number ten to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed. attempts to fly a hot air - balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes, but nobody seemed i to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air- we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close

ties with the soviet union in the 19605 — it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war with the cuban missile crisis. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines... at least 27 migrants have drowned in the english channel after their dinghy capsized near the french port of calais. ajury in the us finds all three defendants guilty of murdering ahmaud arbery, a black man outjogging in the state of georgia. china's birth rate is continuing to decline, with new data showing that it has dropped to its lowest level in 43 years. a report from the country 5 national bureau of statistics revealed that there are now fewer than ten births for every 1,000 citizens. the government has recently tried to improve the birth rate by allowing families to have up to three children —

only five years after they increased the child limit from one to two. to discuss this further, we can cross to melbourne and join peter mcdonald, who's a professor of demography at the university of melbourne. it's great to have you on the programme, peter. let'sjust programme, peter. let's just start programme, peter. let'sjust start by finding out what's behind the fall in the birth rate? ~ ., , ., , rate? well for 75 years under the one child _ rate? well for 75 years under the one child policy, - rate? well for 75 years under the one child policy, the - rate? well for 75 years under| the one child policy, the state in china said that having more than one child was against the interest of the state. and the current generation of potential parents in china are themselves the one child. they have lived the one child. they have lived the one child policy their entire lives. in addition to that, the floating bob relation of 200 million people who have been moved from the villages to the larger cities have been required in the interest of the state to leave their children behind in the village. this prevents the development of effective relations between parents and children — and

that's the central reason people have children. so overall, policies are created that have created a culture in which children are produced or not produced in the interest of the state, not in the interest of the parents or the children. and that culture won't be easy to change. there are other reasons which are common to wealthy east asian countries, like the demands on employers, excessive demands, working long hours, always being available to an employer no matter what time of day, there's the gender equity argument, as well, that having children affects women much more than men. but china has this additional factor of the culture, and that, as i say, won't be easy to change. you know, the policies though that we've seen from china in the last few years, at least, are aimed at trying to improve the birth rate. what else can it do? ~ �* , ., the birth rate. what else can itdo? �*, .,

it do? well it's not easy, as i said, it do? well it's not easy, as i said. when — it do? well it's not easy, as i said, when the _ it do? well it's not easy, as i said, when the chinese - it do? well it's not easy, as i said, when the chinese statej said, when the chinese state said, when the chinese state said to have more births, it's still the state control of children. and there needs to be a loosening up, in a sense, a revaluing of children. children are important notjust for the state, but for parents to micro families and parents. they'll try to change the work culture but they haven't been successful in other wealthy east asian countries. so despite many attempts to do so, including singapore. and the gender culture is also not very easy to change. so it's hard to see exactly what china could do. �* , , , do. and 'ust briefly, peter, how do. and just briefly, peter, how might _ do. and just briefly, peter, how might a _ do. and just briefly, peter, how might a smaller - do. andjust briefly, peter, - how might a smaller population effect china's future going forward?— forward? well, initially of course. — forward? well, initially of course, the _ forward? well, initially of course, the country - forward? well, initially of course, the country is - forward? well, initially of. course, the country is better off in economic terms if they

had no children for 20 years, but they would have a labourforce problem. so it is a longer—term problem which will befall the labour force in 20 years' time. china is a very big country, you can't compensate with migration. thank you forjoining us on newsday, peter. their doors have been shut for two years — but finally, new zealand has unveiled plans to welcome back foreigners from next year. from 30 april, fully vaccinated visitors will be allowed to enter the country, but will still have to self—isolate for seven days upon arrival. earlier, i spoke to alexandra birt — she's one of the founders of the group grounded kiwis, a network of new zealanders who for the past two years have been lobbying the government to allow people to travel back home. this has been a long time coming for a lot of people who have been struggling to get back into new zealand. i think what a lot of people abroad haven't realised is that new zealand's citizens, as well, have really struggled to be able to get home. we were required previously to enter a lottery system,

and only if you were lucky enough to get a lucky number in the lottery essentially were you able to get a slot to go home. so we have people within our network who have been stuck overseas for 6—12 months, parents separated from their kids, a lot of people in very dire financial situations or who have lost visas. so, for them to be able to have a day which they can return home is obviously fantastic, but doesn't in some ways take away from the heartbreak and struggles peoples have gone through over the recent months. i know that your organisation has worked very hard to try and convince the government of this policy u—turn. how did you manage to do this? i think that it's been a range of things, really. like ours, who have really been lobbying. the government are also

trying to raise public awareness of the situations of individuals who are stranded and just how difficult it is to get back home. i think in recent months, there's been increasing pressure from within new zealand, as well, obviously from the business community who have not been able to leave and come back. so i think there's been a lot of increasing pressure, particularly now that there is covid in the community in new zealand, people abroad are now fully vaccinated — it's been difficult for the government to justify why people who are fully vaccinated haven't been able to come back until february next year. yesterday we brought you news of a mission to test technology that could one day divert a dangerous asteroid if it were heading for a collision with the earth. today we can give you an update on the launch. a falcon—9 rocket carrying nasa's dart spacecraft blasted off from the vandenberg base, in california. the mission wants to see how

difficult it would be to stop a huge space rock from colliding with earth. the spacecraft will target a iso—metre—wide rock 11 million kilometres away. from her unmistakable voice to her signature beehive, british singer amy winehouse is being remembered in a new exhibition a decade after her death. handwritten lyrics and notebooks, as well as outfits she wore onstage are going on display at london's design museum. tarah welsh has been to see it. this is the most magical part of the exhibition. amy winehouse — her voice, her style, her presence, recreated through animation. just part of this exhibition about her life and career at the design museum. there's things you would expect from an exhibition, like magazine covers and her grammy awards. and there are really personal touches here, as well, like amy's notes and notepads, talking about her dreams and ambitions for the future.

having access to so much of amy's handwritten material was extremely moving. like, i've read maybe hundreds of pages of amy's notebooks and diary entries, and lyric pages, and it'sjust a real insight into who she was as a person and how she worked, and how incredibly clean her copy was when she was writing these poems that turned into songs. so that was probably, yeah, the most amazing part of the process for me. amy beyond the stage celebrates her creativity, her music, her style, and her inspirations. there's so much that would be of interest to her. you know, the stuff about billie holliday and sarah vaughan, and ella fitzgerald. this exhibition would be just up her alley. this is the sort of exhibition that she would go and pay to see — so, yeah, ithink she would be happy. what i hope they take away is to see a very positive side of amy. you know, everyone knows what happened. everyone has seen the

horrible tabloid stuff. this is, from start to finish, positivity and it's superb, you know, and i'm loving it. i'm really loving it. amy winehouse died ten years ago, but her influence on the world of music goes on — and insight into where it all started opens to the public here in kensington on friday. tarah welsh, bbc london. and before we go tonight, it's the eve of thanksgiving — and thousands have been taking part in a much loved tradition in new york city. yes, it's the annual blowing up of the macy's day parade balloons! every year, people flock to the grounds of the museum of natural history to watch these familiar floating faces come to life. some of the fan favourites include smokey the bear, astronaut snoopy, and the pillsbury doughboy, plus newcomers like baby yoda and ronald mcdonald. the balloons will fly high over the streets of thursday's parade which will be in—person after last year's scaled back affair.

what a parade indeed. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello. some pretty lively weather conditions on the way to us later in the week and, into the start of the weekend, we could see some severe gales develop quite widely, particularly through friday into saturday. and to go with it, a realfeel of winter in the air — much colder with more of you seeing a little bit of sleet, or even snow. that colder air pushing southwards overnight into the start of thursday — and that really makes for the chill for the first of the commutes of the day, temperatures widely at or just above freezing. so, frost in places, maybe just frost—free in the southeast corner where the overnight cloud and patchy drizzle just about to clear, and in the far north of scotland overnight, heavy showers continuing with sleet and snow, even down to sea level. they'll continue throughout the day, a few showers down around eastern coastal counties of england, 1—2 to the west of wales, cornwall, and across northern ireland. but for most of you, thursday is one of those crisp, clear days —

good visibility, but a chilly feel in the breeze, temperatures around 5—8 celsius. now as we going into thursday night, temperatures actually lift a little bit. outbreaks of rain spreading their way in from the north and the west, but strengthening winds across the board — that will stop temperatures from falling to freezing here, but there could be a frost to start friday, east anglia and the southeast in particular. but even here, we'll see rain push through on friday — this is an area of low pressure that'll cause us all sorts of problems. the exact track will dictate who sees the strongest of the winds and who will see a bit of snow. to begin friday, it's outbreaks of rain spreading southwards and eastwards. the strongest of the winds to the north and west of the country could touch damaging 70—80 mph for 1—2 later in the day, and blizzard conditions developing across parts of higher ground of scotland. and this is where we'll see the strongest of the winds, really late friday into friday night, pushing down the western side of this area of low pressure. cold air with it, so a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow notjust to the hills, 1—2 to lower levels, but it'll be a difficult mix to get exactly right.

keep checking the forecast — but it could be a night of disruption into the start of saturday with strong winds. more wintry showers around on saturday, an icy wind and an added wind chill, too. so, whilst temperatures on the thermometers saturday afternoon say 4—7 celsius — already lower than we'd normally expected at this stage of november — it will feel closer to freezing, if not below for many of you. things'll turn quieter though through saturday night into sunday — widespread frost to begin the day, but for most, it'll be a dry day with some spells of hazy sunshine. keep up to date with the latest forecast details here on bbc news.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour as newsday continues, straight after hardtalk.